Cristobal Del Solar leads by two at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic

Things to Know

First-year Korn Ferry Tour member Cristobal Del Solar cards a 5-under 67 for a two-stroke lead in his second career Korn Ferry Tour start (T31 at 2023 The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay)

Defending champion Brandon Harkins opens with a 2-under 70 and sits in a 15-way T10

Past champion Rafael Campos (2019) opens with a 2-under 70 and sits in a 15-way T10

Cody Blick’s 3-under 69 and Grant Hirschman’s 2-under 70 were the only bogey-free rounds recorded Sunday; the two stand T2 and T10, respectively

Charting the Leader (stats entering the week)

Cristobal Del Solar (Leader / -5)

Holds the 18-hole lead in his second career Korn Ferry Tour start

In Sunday’s opening round, posted six birdies against one bogey (par-3 fourth) for a 5-under 67 and two-stroke lead over eight players tied at 3-under

Played in all 12 PGA TOUR Latinoamérica tournaments during the 2021-22 season, making 11 cuts and posting seven top-10s to end the season at No. 2 in the Totalplay Cup and earn Korn Ferry Tour membership for 2023

In December 2022, won Neuquen Argentina Classic – part of the 2022-23 PGA TOUR Latinoamérica schedule – to earn his second PGA TOUR Latinoamérica title in seven months and his fourth career PGA TOUR Latinoamérica victory, tying him for the second-most career wins in the Tour’s history

Plays from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, but was originally born in Vina del Mar, Chile, roughly 76 miles from Santiago, where the Korn Ferry Tour’s inaugural Astara Chile Classic will be contested March 30 through April 2

Attended Florida State University (five seasons from 2012-17) and turned professional in 2017 (PGA TOUR Canada in 2017, followed by PGA TOUR Latinoamérica from 2018-22)

Moved to the United States when he was 15 years old and attended IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida

Learn more about Del Solar in this article

Quotables

Cristobal Del Solar on how he would rate his round given the windy conditions: “It's probably close to 10. It was definitely one of the hardest ones. It's my first year out here… this is probably up there with all the other ones.”

Del Solar on his journey to the Korn Ferry Tour: “I'm from Vina del Mar, Chile, so it's about an hour away from where we are playing the Korn Ferry Tour (tournament). My dad wanted me to go (to the United States) because he knows that obviously, to be a golfer, you kind of have to be in the U.S. It's an easier path to get there being in the U.S. even at a young age. For my mom, it was tough. She did not want for me to move there at a young age. I was going from an all-day school thing in Chile to playing a lot of golf and going to like a boarding sports school at IMG (Academy). It was definitely different. It gave me more freedom to practice more and do what I love.”

Brandon Harkins on becoming a member of The Abaco Club after last year’s victory: “I had no clue that was even a part of winning until after the fact. Darren Clarke said something to me on the 18th green last year and I thought wow, that's pretty cool. But it's been great. We've only been able to come down once so far, but yeah, it's hard to beat this place. It's beautiful.

Notes

Cody Blick (T2 / -3) and Peter Knade (T2 / -3) are both coming off T2 finishes in the season-opening The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay

Shad Tuten (T2 / -3) and Akshay Bhatia (T2 / -3) are both coming off T4 finishes in the season-opening The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay. Tuten finished T22 in this event last year, while Bhatia recorded a missed cut

Jimmy Stanger (T2 / -3) is in line to stand T2 or higher through 18 holes for the fifth time in his Korn Ferry Tour career and first time since holding the outright lead at the 2022 Panama Championship

Chase Seiffert (T2 / -3) is in line to stand T2 or higher through 18 holes of a Korn Ferry Tour event for only the second time (T1 at 2019 Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Championship / finished T57)

Andrew Yun (T2 / -3) is in line to match his career-high 18-hole position on the Korn Ferry Tour (T2 at 2017 BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX / finished T2; T2 at 2022 Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna / finished T16)

Alan Wagner (T2 / -3) had not stood higher than T56 through 18 holes in any of his previous six career Korn Ferry Tour starts